Chapter 10 - Sirens in the Sky
The distant wail of sirens echoed from the canyon of skyscrapers below, rising rapidly toward the penthouse rooftop.
The elevator doors in the main hallway chimed loudly, parting to reveal a team of four paramedics wheeling an emergency gurney.
They rushed onto the pool deck with military precision, immediately setting down their cardiac monitors and oxygen tanks beside Elena.
"We’ve got an eight-month pregnant female, hypothermic, near-drowning victim," the second officer briefed the lead medic rapidly.
Elena gasped sharply as a sudden, intense cramp seized her lower abdomen, causing her back to arch in acute agony.
"Julian! The baby... it hurts! Something is wrong!" Elena cried out, clutching her belly as another sharp contraction hit.
The paramedic immediately placed an oxygen mask over Elena’s nose and mouth, checking her vital signs with practiced speed.
"Her contractions are two minutes apart. The physical trauma and sudden cold shock have triggered early labor," the medic announced urgently.
Julian’s face went pale with terror once more, his hand gripping Elena’s with crushing intensity.
"Is the baby going to make it?! Tell me the truth!" Julian demanded, his voice cracking with unbearable desperation.
"We need to transport her to the neonatal trauma center right this second if we want to save both of them," the medic replied.
The team lifted Elena with practiced care onto the wheeled gurney, wrapping her in thermal foil blankets to combat the hypothermia.
Maya stepped back, giving the medical team room to work, though her watchful eyes never left Elena’s pale face.
Julian looked over his shoulder at Maya, his eyes brimming with profound emotion and a solemn, unspoken promise.
"Maya, please, come in the ambulance with us. You're the reason they are still breathing," Julian pleaded with raw vulnerability.
Maya nodded without hesitation, wiping the remaining pool water from her face. "I’m not leaving her side until she’s safe."
As they wheeled the gurney toward the penthouse elevator, Victoria was being held by the glass entrance doors by the arresting officer.
Victoria watched the medical chaos unfold, a sick, twisted smile creeping across her bruised, blood-smeared lips.
As the gurney rolled past her, Victoria leaned forward as far as the officer's iron grip would allow.
"You won't make it to the hospital in time, Elena," Victoria whispered in a sickening, barely audible hiss.
"And even if that baby takes a breath, you’ll soon find out that I wasn't the only one who wanted you dead tonight," she added chillingly.
Julian lunged forward, but the officer held him back, while the paramedic team pushed the elevator button frantically.
The stainless-steel elevator doors began to slide shut, severing the connection between the fractured family.
Elena groaned into the oxygen mask as another violent contraction wracked her exhausted, battered body.
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The elevator began its rapid descent toward the waiting sirens below, carrying a fragile life teetering on the absolute brink of survival.
Behind them on the rooftop, Victoria’s final, sinister warning lingered like a ghost in the cold night air.
